1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to beverage holders and more particularly to an improved beverage holder designed to adapt a standard vehicle ashtray into an open receptacle for retaining items such as beverage containers, keys and the like in such a way as to resist both vertical and horizontal motion, thus preventing items from easily spilling or falling due to vehicle motion.
2. Description of Related Art
Invention and use of beverage holders is known to the public, as they are frequently used to hold and secure a beverage container in a location which is easily and conveniently accessible to the user. Since many standard beverage holding devices, such as that disclosed in Luebke U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,678, cannot be feasibly utilized to hold a beverage container in a moving vehicle, there are several available beverage holding devices designed specifically to secure a beverage container in a vehicle.
For example, Louthan U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,770 discloses a beverage holder with integral straps that allow the holder to be secured around various objects for holding it in place. Manke U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,923 discloses an automobile beverage holder that is intended to be clipped onto a fully opened ashtray or a glove compartment door. However, this device, as with that of Louthan, hangs unsupported from the side wall of the ashtray or glove compartment, thus making it very susceptible to horizontal movement of the vehicle. In addition, these devices are easily upset by the occupants of the vehicle, as they hang in high-traffic areas, such as near the radio or in the space normally occupied by the passenger's legs.
Hunnicutt U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,649 presents a more stable, secure drink holder which consists of a cylindrical portion that holds an insulated beverage holder which in turn holds a beverage. However, the nature of the device is such that it can only be used with a pre-existing beverage receptacle in a vehicle consul or armchair to further stabilize the beverage container and retain its temperature, and is thus useless in vehicles without an integral beverage receptacle unit.
Spearman U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,577 discloses a beverage holding device capable of containing two beverages. It is a significant improvement over the other prior art in that it is firmly mounted into the opening of a glove compartment or ashtray, thus providing a higher degree of stability than those that hang from an object. However, Spearman's device is also subject to several problems. First of all, it has a substantially larger size than other beverage holding devices, which is a significant disadvantage in the close confines of a vehicle interior.
Most importantly, however, Spearman, as with the rest of the above mentioned prior art, cannot resist both vertical and horizontal motion, and is therefore unstable and prone to spilling the beverage over bumps, turns, braking and other unpredictable movements of the vehicle or its occupants. Thus, there is a clear need for an improved beverage holder which effectively resists both vertical and horizontal movement. Such a holder would be relatively compact, and would be secured in such a way as to not restrict movement of the passengers. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.